It will be interesting to see if your plant bears fruit because, although it is often said that tomatillos are self incompatible, I have seen reports here occasionally that a lone plant did produce fruit.

In one discussion it was claimed that the tomatillo on a lone plant was cross pollinated by a nearby wild plant of related species. I don't know if I can buy that.

BTW, the husk forms first, then the fruit forms inside the husk. At what stage are yours?

Jim

I planted one a few years ago, not knowing you were supposed to have 2 or more. I got a few wimpy flowers and pea sized fruits. I let it go at that.
This year I discovered a lone plant (not in the bed I had planted the other) I don't know if it was from compost, the old plant or a bird pooped it into my garden!?!?
I just picked about a gallon of tomatillos last night and made THE MOST delicious salsa verde ever!
If you have time to let the fruit ripen, go for it!
I'm certainly going to grow more in future years!
Nancy
BTW the salsa freezes just fine!

This topic is debated regularly. Tomatillo is a self-incompatible plant. Occasionally, you'll find an individual that is genetically self-compatible, but this is rare. The wild ancestors of the crop plant are self-compatible, but the varieties grown for food are naturally self-incompatible. Near the top of a Google search for 'tomatillo' 'self-incompatible,' you'll find a paper published in 2007 that discusses research into the nature of the self-incompatibility system - it's gametophytic for you plant biologists. So yes, you can get fruit on an lone plant, but you need to be very lucky to have it happen. Anyone wanting to grow tomatillo should definitly plant at least two.

I guess I'm lucky! I planted it from seeds in March and only one got potted up. I used old popsicle sticks and the names faded. It was blooming all summer and the blossoms were just falling off. Then I made a some cuttings. Where I made the cuttings it has spurted tremendous growth and that is where most or all of the fruits are. The largest is bigger than a quarter. Please tell me how to make the salsa!!!

Of course now it's got powdery mildew or something like it on some of the leaves. I won't use chemicals. Any natural remedies for that?

zackey:

click on the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: click here

I never had a problem with PM on tomatillos.

But thanks for the link, woohooman. I'll put that info to use on squash next summer.

Jim

There are zillions of recipes on the web, but the way I did it was so simple!
I took the paper coating off of about a gallon of tomatillos, peeled 4 cloves of garlic (the recipe called for 2), took the stem off of 2 jalapeno peppers. Just cover with water, boil for 10 min, drain, save the liquid,let cool, put all into a blender or food processor. Blend the heck out of it! Add some of the saved liquid if you think you need it.
That's it! Yummy! Nancy

Thanks everyone for the responses. I will try the hose off method for the PM tomorrow morning. The recipe for the sauce is way to spicy for me! I will google it for a milder one.

It's not all that spicey after it has boiled down. You could reduce the garlic and peppers, or not add them at all. Nancy

I found they need to have good air circulation. I gave up as I grew them close to my garage and the worms ate all of them.

My plant has great air circulation. We always have a breeze here. Nothing really close to it. I think I just didn't water it enough. It's in a pot that's about 12 inches across.

I find that I do not need to plant tomatillos anymore. They self-sow with hundreds of seedlings every year. My job is to thin out 99% of them so that they do not choke each other. I find that tomatillos do not mature until fall no matter how early I plant them. I am wondering if fruit maturity is day length and/or temperature sensitive.

My purple tomatillos were loaded with fruits this fall, after dropping blossoms all summer, then blister beetles got to them and demolished them before I even know it. I'll try again next year. They were very fruity and sweet.

I thought they had more of a tomatoey taste. I've never eaten one. It died. I guess it got too cold in the greenhouse. I will try again in the spring. I just read about them in a new book I got from the University of Florida bookstore. The book is called Minor Vegetables. What a cool book. It's about all the veggies we can plant in Florida that are not commercially grown. So many I had never heard of! Tomatillo was in there and also Malabar Spinach. I can hardly wait until next pring! In the meantime I will be looking for seeds for the many unusual veggies I read about. How do you use the tomatillo? Just for sauces?

"How do you use the tomatillo? Just for sauces?"

I'm sure there are other uses, but yes -- salsas, soups, and sauces are primarily what I've seen them being used in.

If you have ever had authentic Mexican food at a taco shop and you saw a red sauce and a green sauce, most likely the green was tomatillo based. Rick Bayless and Bobby Flay would be 2 TV chefs with many recipes using them.

Kevin

I can buy tomatillos at the ethnic Mexican grocery store, zackey. I bet they have something like that near you. If not, I'm sure you can buy green salsa in the grocery store to try.